6 ms·
The problem is that what constitutes politics? Guns shouldn't be political, who you have sex with shouldn't be political...but in our current climate, they are
by moresocialism 7y ago
The problem is that what constitutes politics? Guns shouldn't be political, who you have sex with shouldn't be political...but in our current climate, they are both considered political.
..and no debating? Most people at Google are shades of left. It sounds like they are just trying to drown out dissenting views once again.
- TazeTSchnitzel 7y ago> Guns shouldn't be political Guns are power, power is political.
- frenchyatwork 7y agoBy that standard, most interesting work is political.
- malka 7y agoEverything is political. So Google is obviously banning a subset of politic.
- Koshkin 7y ago> Everything is political. Math is not political.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- TazeTSchnitzel 7y agoYep.
- ixtli 7y agoYes. Also, the most boring work. Also all work. Also work itself.
- lukifer 7y agoSex is power, power is political. Freedom is power, power is political. The unfortunate reality is that there are no closed systems in nature. Nothing can be completely firewalled off from politics, power, game theory, status, memetics, social dynamics, tribal value-signaling, etc. The best we can probably hope for is localized, fuzzy consensus on taboos. We might all decide it's inappropriate to criticize sexual behaviors, or bring up religion in polite company; but it's probably fine if someone has strong feelings about adding a stoplight to 3rd & Main, or increasing funding to national parks.
- scarface74 7y agoWhy do you feel the need to talk about sex at work or guns?
- lostgame 7y agoThis actually made me laugh - I couldn't agree more. Since when is sexuality an open topic at work?
- leetcrew 7y agoI'm guessing you've never worked in a restaurant...
- scarface74 7y agoI hope you wouldn’t compare the level of professionalism expected at a restaurant to what you should expect in an office setting.
- leetcrew 7y agoof course not. I'm just making the point that a lot of folks might go their entire lives without working in such a stuffy environment as the modern office. and yet, life goes on.
- throwawayjava 7y agoSexuality has always been an open topic at work. People talk about their kids. Display pictures of their family. Bring their spouse to the Christmas party. It's only recently that people can talk about their non-heterosexual relationships at work. In 1995, mentioning your lesbian partner would've been overtly political and, in certain workplaces, is STILL called "political" and can get you fired [1]. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/us/gay-teachers-wife-texas.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/us/gay-teachers-wife-texa...
- losteric 7y ago"Hey man, what did you do this weekend?" - "Not much, my husband and I went up to the cabin to spend some time hunting and fishing" For normal adults, that's just someone sharing their pleasant weekend... but others are triggered by implied gay sex and gun possession.
- DannyBee 7y agoYour attempt to argue this is somehow vague or a slippery slope is silly - most workplaces seem to have not a tremendous amount of trouble with this, even though it is not rigorously defined.
- lostgame 7y agoAgreed. I am transgender, lesbian, asexual and polyromantic, and none of these things have I ever had so much as a discussion about at my office, nor have they sparked any 'political' discussion. (I work at one of the major 5 banks in Canada).
- sergiotapia 7y ago"transgender, lesbian" Wait what
- vore 7y agoYour gender is not related to your sexual orientation.
- leetcrew 7y agono but the way we talk about it is. we typically use vocabulary to describe orientation that is relative to gender identity. that is, a person who is attracted to men is gay if they identify as a man or straight if they identify as a woman. that said, "transgender lesbian" shouldn't be too hard to parse unless you've been living under a rock for the last fifteen years.
- wtveb 7y agoFor some people their sexual tastes are their only source of identity and personality, so they go all the way to make sure they're unique.
- vore 7y agoThis is needlessly malicious. People have made the same argument for non-trans gay people and it's no less gross if you make it for trans gay people.
- FussyZeus 7y agoEverything is political, and politics affect everything. If you think there are no politics in something it's likely that the politics involved in it are not close to you, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Identity isn't political, until you have one that isn't an accepted norm. Sexual orientation isn't political, until people want to deny you insurance over yours. Race isn't political, until people refuse to sell you houses because of it. And so on. "Keep politics out of $thing" is the purest expression of privilege. Doesn't make you a bad person or anything, but it's worth keeping in mind. Shifting back to topic some: this idea that Google has had for years about platforms and now about it's internal one, that you can somehow keep the ugly elements of our society out and just have a nice, clean, advertiser and marketer-freindly area (ala YouTube) has permeated everything they've made. The problem is any place that people gather and collaborate will, eventually, get political. It can't not. As a species we have dragged politics into everything since long before we tricked silicon chips into thinking. I don't know why people keep thinking the Internet can be different, but it can't.
- magashna 7y agoIf you demanded the "privilege" of discussing politics at work, I'd promptly not hire/fire you.
- t0astbread 7y agoThe "privilege" here is that banning discussions about politics can be used as a tool to silence the opposition of the current status quo. * edit: changed "competition" to "opposition"
- magashna 7y agoOr it can be to create a neutral environment to get work done, as a professional environment should be. I just want to put in my hours and go home. Keep your politics to yourself.
- t0astbread 7y ago
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 7y agoAnother important point is that big tech is a topic this election cycle. Talking about google is political.
- kumbel 7y ago> who you have sex with shouldn't be political Sexuality has been a political issue (covered by legal or religious restrictions) in almost every society that has ever existed.
- skybrian 7y agoThe article doesn't have a copy of the policy, but it seems to be about political debates that are unrelated to your actual job? (The latest news story, for example.) But since Google operates internationally and is involved in so many things, I assume any given political issue is probably job-related somewhere at Google.
- krapp 7y agoGuns are political (in the US at least) because the Second Amendment gives them special status as being necessary for the defense of a free state, and thanks to the NRA, that status is firmly entrenched as part of right-wing partisan identity. Sex is political because of Christianity and its influence leading to the criminalization of LGBTQ people and behavior. Neither is a symptom of our current political climate, they've both been deeply political for centuries.